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[Perek Shira] has been preserved in more than 100 manuscripts, 20 of them copied in the Middle Ages, including geniza fragments, the earliest dating from about the tenth century. The versions differ considerably in content and arrangement, and classification of the manuscripts reveals the existence of three distinct traditions: Oriental-Italian, Sephardi and Ashkenazi. The first printed edition, with a commentary by Moses b. Joseph de Trani (printed as an appendix to his Beit Elohim; Venice, 1576), was followed by some 100 corrupt editions, generally accompanied by commentaries, translations into Yiddish, Ladino and German, and literary paraphrases to this day. Perek Shira is first mentioned in a polemical work of Salmon b. Jerohim, a Jerusalem Karaite of the first half of the tenth century. References to it can be found in European sources at the end of the 12th century and from the 13th century onward various interpretations, mainly kabbalistic, are known. It would seem that from the outset Perek Shira was intended as a liturgical text, as also seems apparent from the pseudepigraphic mystical additions. In the early Ashkenazi manuscripts it was included in maḥzorim and collections of special prayers in close proximity to prayers issuing from circles of Ḥasidei Ashkenaz. The spread of the later custom of reciting Perek Shira as a prayer and its inclusion in printed prayer books was mainly due to the influence of the Safed kabbalists.

Talmudic and midrashic sources contain hymns of the creation usually based on homiletic expansions of metaphorical descriptions and personifications of the created world in the Bible. The explicitly homiletic background of some of the hymns in Perek Shira indicates a possible connection between the other hymns and Tannaitic and Amoraic homiletics, and suggests a hymnal index to well-known, but mostly unpreserved, homiletics. The origin of this work, the period of its composition and its significance may be deduced from literary parallels. A Tannaitic source in the tractate Ḥagiga of the Jerusalem (Ḥag. 2:1,77a—b) and Babylonian Talmud (Ḥag. 14b), in hymns of nature associated with apocalyptic visions and with the teaching of ma’aseh merkaba serves as a key to Perek Shira’s close spiritual relationship with this literature. Parallels to it can be found in apocalyptic literature, in mystic layers in Talmudic literature, in Jewish mystical prayers surviving in fourth-century Greek Christian composition, in Heikhalot literature, and in Merkaba mysticism. The affinity of Perek Shira with Heikhalot literature, which abounds in hymns, can be noted in the explicitly mystic introduction to the seven crowings of the cock — the only non-hymnal text in the collection — and the striking resemblance between the language of the additions and that of Shi’ur Koma and other examples of this literature. In Seder Rabba de-Bereshit, a Heikhalot tract, in conjunction with the description of ma’aseh bereshit, there is a clear parallel to Perek Shira’s praise of creation and to the structure of its hymns. The concept reflected in this source is based on a belief in the existence of angelic archetypes of created beings who mediate between God and his creation, and express their role through singing hymns. As the first interpretations of Perek Shira also bear witness to its mystic character and angelologic significance, it would appear to be a mystical chapter of Heikhalot literature, dating from late Tannaitic — early Amoraic period, or early Middle Ages.

Some parallels to Perek Shira exist outside Hebrew literature: the Testament of Adam (preserved in Syriac, Greek, and in later translations), which contains horaries of praise by the whole of creation framed in an apocalyptic angelologic vision similar to that in Seder Rabba de-Bereshit and may have originated from Jewish Hellenistic circles; the Greek Physiologus of the second century, which reveals structural and formal parallels to Perek Shira; and Islamic oral traditions (Hadith) on the praise of created beings.

But ask now the animals, and they shall teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and they shall tell you;
Or speak to the Earth, and it shall teach you;
And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto you;
Who knows not among all these, That the hand of haShem has wrought this?
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all humanity.

Rabbi Eliezer said: Anyone who involves himself with Perek Shirah in this world, merits saying it in the World-to-Come, as it says, “Then Moshe will sing”; it does not say “sang,” but “will sing” in the World-to-Come.

And Rebbi said: Anyone who involves himself with Perek Shirah in this world — I testify that he is destined for the World-to-Come, and he is saved from the evil inclination, and from harsh judgment, and from the destroying Satan, and from all types of enemies, and from the birth pangs of Mashiaḥ, and from the judgment of Gehennom; and he merits to learn and to teach, to observe and to fulfill and to perform [the Torah], and his studies are established in him, and his days are lengthened, and he merits life in the World-to-Come.

[Yalkut Shimoni, end of Psalms:] The Sages said concerning King David that when he completed the book of Psalms, he became proud. He said before the blessed Holy One, “Is there any creature you have created in your world that says more songs and praises than I?” At that moment a frog happened across his path, and it said to him: “David! Do not become proud, for I recite more songs and praises than you. Furthermore, every song I say contains three thousand parables, as it says, ‘And he spoke three thousand parables, and his songs were one thousand five hundred.'[2]1 Kings 5:12 And furthermore, I am busy with a great mitsvah, and this is the mitsvah with which I am busy: there is a certain type of creature by the edge of the sea whose sustenance is entirely from [creatures living in] the water, and when it is hungry, it takes me and eats me, such that I fulfill that which it says, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you shall heap coals of fire on his head, and YHVH shall reward you'[3]Proverbs 25:21-22; do not read ‘shall reward you’ but instead ‘shall make him complete you.’”

The Garden of Eden is saying:
“Arouse yourself, O north [wind], and come, O south!
Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow out;
let my Beloved come to his garden and eat of its precious fruit.”[7]Song of Songs 4:16

The Waters are saying:
“When his voice resounds with a great mass of water in the heavens,
and he raises vapors from the ends of the Earth;
when he makes lightning amongst the rain,
and he brings out the wind from its storehouses.”[11]Jeremiah 51:16

The Stars are saying,
“You, only you, are YHVH;
You made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host;
the earth, and everything that is in it;
the seas, and everything that is in them;
and you preserve them all;
and the host of heaven prostrate themselves to you.”[19]Nehemiah 9:6

The Vine is saying,
“So says YHVH: As the wine is found in the cluster, and one says:
‘Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it’ – so shall I do for the sake of my servants, so as not to destroy everything.”[28]Isaiah 65:8

The Apricot is saying,
“Like the apricot tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among young men.
I sat down under his shadow with delight,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”[32]Song of Songs 2:3

The Rooster is saying,
“When the blessed Holy One comes to the righteous in the Garden of Eden, all the trees in the Garden of Eden scatter their spices, and they rejoice and praise, and then He, too, is aroused and praises.”[38]quoted in Zohar 2, 195b (Vayakhel)

In its first call it says,
“Such is the generation of them that seek after thon, that seek your face, even Ya’akov. Selah! Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O everlasting doors! And the King of kavod shall come in. Who is this King of kavod? YHVH strong and mighty, YHVH mighty in battle!”[39]Psalms 24:6-8

In its second call, it says,
“Lift up your heads, O gates! Lift them up, O everlasting doors! And the King of kavod shall come in. Who is He, this King of kavod? YHVH Tseva’ot, he is the King of kavod, Selah!”[40]Psalms 24:9-10

The Dove is saying,
“Like a swift or crane, so do I chatter; I moan like a dove;
my eyes fail with looking upward;
my Master, I am oppressed by my senility.”[46]Isaiah 38:14

The dove says before the blessed Holy One:
“Master of the World!
May my sustenance be as bitter as an olive in your Hand,
rather than it being sweet as honey through flesh and blood.”[47]Talmud, Eruvin 18b 44-45

The Stork is saying:
“Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, and call to her, for her time has arrived, for her sins have been pardoned, for she has taken double from YHVH’s hand for all her sins.”[55]Isaiah 40:2

The Starling is saying,
“Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which YHVH has blessed.”[57]Isaiah 61:9

The Wild Goose flying in the wilderness, when it sees Yisra’el busy with Torah, is saying,
“A voice cries,
Prepare in the wilderness the way of YHVH,
make straight in the desert a path for our elo’ah.”[59]Isaiah 40:3.

And upon finding its food in the wilderness, it says,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings…”[60]Jeremiah 17:5 partial
Blessed is the man who trusts in YHVH,
and YHVH shall be his assurance.”[61]Jeremiah 17:7 partial

The Fly, when Yisra’el is not busying itself with Torah, is saying,
“The voice said, ‘Call out.’
And he said, ‘What shall I call out?’
‘All flesh is grass, and all its grace is as the flower of the field.’[67]Isaiah 40:6
‘…The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our elo’ah shall endure forever.’”[68]Isaiah 40:8
‘“I will create a new expression of the lips; Peace, peace for him who is far off and for him who is near, says YHVH; and I will heal him.’”[69]Isaiah 57:19

The Horse is saying:
“Behold, as the eyes of the servants to the hand of their master, as the eyes of the maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so are our eyes to YHVH our elo’ah until he will favor us.”[79]Psalms 123:2

The Donkey is saying:
“Yours, YHVH, is the greatness, and the might, and the splendor, and the victory, and the glory,
for everything in the Heavens and earth [is yours];
Yours, YHVH, is the kingship, and the exaltation over all.”[81]1 Chronicles 29:11

The Ox is saying,
“Then Moshe and the Children of Yisra’el sang this song to YHVH,
and they said, ‘I shall sing to YHVH, for he has triumphed;
He has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea.’”[82]Exodus 15:1

The Gazelle is saying:
“And I shall sing of your strength,
I shall rejoice of your kindness in the morning,
for you were a refuge to me,
and a hiding place on the day of my oppression.”[84]Psalms 59:17

The Bear is saying:
“Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,
the village that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of the rocks sing,
let them shout from the peaks of the mountains.
Let them give kavod to YHVH,
and tell of his praise in the islands.”[87]Isaiah 42:11-12

The Wolf is saying:
“For every matter of iniquity, for the ox, the donkey, the lamb, the garment, for every lost item about which he says, ‘This is it,’ the matter of both of them shall come before the judge; he who the judge finds guilty shall pay double to the other.”[88]Exodus 22:8

The Fox is saying:
“Woe to him that builds his house without justice, and his chambers without lawfulness; that uses his friend’s service without wages, and does not give him for his hire.”[89]Jeremiah 22:13

The Creeping Creatures are saying,
“Let Yisra’el rejoice in he Who made him; let the children of Tsiyon be joyful in their King.”[95]Psalms 149:2.
another version: “May the kavod of YHVH endure forever;
may YHVH rejoice in his works.”[96]Psalms 104:31

[Yalkut Shimoni, Bo 187:] Rabbi Yeshayah, student of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa, fasted eighty-five fasts. He said, “Dogs, about which it is written, ‘the dogs are brazen of spirit; they do not know satisfaction'[104]Isaiah 56:11 — shall they merit saying a song?” An angel answered him from Heaven and said to him, “Yeshayah, until when will you fast over this? It is an oath from the blessed Holy One; from the day that he revealed his secret to Havakuk the prophet, he has not revealed this matter to anyone in the world. But because you are the student of a great man, I have been sent from Heaven to assist you. They said that dogs have written about them, ‘No dog sharpened its tongue against any of the children of Yisra’el'[105]Exodus 11:7. Furthermore, they merited that hides are tanned with their excrement, on which Tefillin, Mezuzot, and Torah scrolls are written. For this reason they merited saying a song. And regarding what you asked, take back your word and do not continue in this way, as it is written, ‘He that guards his mouth and tongue, guards from afflictions of his soul.’”[106]Proverbs 21:23

Blessed is YHVH forever, Amen and Amen.
Blessed is YHVH from Tsiyon, Dweller in Jerusalem, praise Yah!
Blessed is YHVH Elohim, elo’ah of Yisra’el, worker of wonders alone.
And blessed is the Name of his kavod, and his kavod should fill the entire land, Amen and Amen.

This edition of Perek Shira follows the identification and ordering of Perek Shira as presented in a 2003 edition of Perek Shira prepared by Rabbi Natan Slifkin, Director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History (corrected to his 2009 edition). Rabbi Natan Slifkin writes,

Perek Shirah, a work of tremendous historic value, is extremely mysterious and cryptic. However, various commentaries have been written on it over the last five hundred years, which give an insight into what the verse is telling us to learn from the creature. Nature’s Song, (Targum/Feldheim 2001), is the first English explanation of Perek Shirah. It makes use of rare ancient commentaries on Perek Shirah, as well as contemporary insights from fields of science such as meteorology and zoology. The result is a Biblical encyclopedia of the natural world, synthesizing the ancient with the modern. Nature’s Song is an encyclopedic work; beautifully designed, lavishly illustrated, and extensively footnoted.

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please comment!

Founding director of the Open Siddur Project, Aharon Varady is a community planner (M.C.P.) and Jewish educator (M.A. J.Ed.) working to improve stewardship of the Public Domain, be it the physical and natural commons of urban park systems or the creative and cultural commons of Torah study. His work on the adoption of Open Source strategies in the Jewish community has been written about in the Yiddish Forverts, the Atlantic Magazine, Tablet, and Haaretz. Aharon Varady studied environmental planning and planning history at DAAP/University of Cincinnati, and the intersection of theurgy, experiential education, and ecology at the Davidson School of Education/JTSA. Here at opensiddur.org, he serves as hierophant, welcoming new users, adding new posts, and keeping the site up-to-date. If you find any mistakes in his translations or transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin, Ministarot Nakeniשְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you find his work helpful to your own or you'd simply like to support him, please consider donating via his Patreon account.

Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin is the founder and director of The Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh. He is the author of several works on the interface between Judaism and the natural sciences, including the Challenge Of Creation and The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom.

The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libré Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.☁

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established."–Psalms 90:17

8 comments to פֶּרֶק שִׁירָה | Pereq Shirah (Chapter of Song), a litany of verses pronounced in the voice of the creatures and works of Creation

rabbi yeshiah was greatly puzzled as to why the dogs are honored to be included in perek shirah; the answer is indicated very clearly in chumash. the thing that is puzzling to me is why the snake is honored; the original cause of all our suffering? thank you in advance for your input.

Now there are snakes and there is the character in Bereishit, perek bet, referred to as the Naḥash. (Naḥash like beings also appear in the stories of other peoples — the most similar in my reading are the Nagas in ancient Persian and Indian mythology.) The question of what or who the Naḥash represents is a question of ancient interest and varied explanation. There is certainly cause to question what exactly was “that cause” of the first transgression. Was it the keen desire of human beings to know more than they were ready to know? Was it their naïvité and innocence that led them to yield to the urging of Naḥash despite the warning of Hashem? Was it their unfamiliarity with the experience of transgression itself? I am unconvinced that the transgression of consuming the fruit of knowledge was the “original cause of all of our suffering” even so. Certainly according to Bereishit there were multiple causes of suffering, and this was but the first. But I do think it is an error to heap upon it the cause of all of our suffering. There is so much suffering due to the predation invited into Nature itself by the Dor Hamabul (the generation of the Flood). The folklorist, Raphael Patai, notes that far from being conceived as creatures of harm, snakes are shown in other places in the Torah to be creatures worthy of reverence. The neḥushtan (a/k/a the copper serpent, Numbers 21:4-9) is only one example. Conceptions of the snake as being representatives of wickedness, etc., seem to be a current that is exclusive to strands of the Christological imagination, rather than the Jewish one.

(the Hebrew preexisted on Sefaria, but I made slight changes in alignment, and added the concluding paragraph. Please note below the following typos in concluding paragraph:
הִתְעַגָּה = הִתְעַנָּה
בְּנֵי = בְּנִי )

Thank you for notification of these typos. They are now fixed. Re: attribution — I’d correct the attribution to, “Aharon N. Varady after Rabbi Natan Slifkin.” Since there are a number of variations of this manuscript, what appears here is Rabbi Slifkin’s ordering. See Dr. Malachi Beit-Arie’s critical edition for the full scope of differences. (My contribution here is mainly to the citation references and to some changes in the English translation.)

[…] about man and animal in the Kabbalah, in Hasidic lore, and a book (which both address) called the “Chapter of Song.” Although there are many disputes over the origins of the Chapter of Song, there is agreement on […]

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